Refrigerator construction



June 23, 1925." 1,542,862

l.. G. com-:MAN

REFRGERATOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 2, 1924 2 sheets-sheet' 1 fsu/7.

311mm Hoz insulated from one another.

Patented .lune 2 3, 1925.

'r y ica.

LLOYD e. cornumiv,v or, FLINT, MICHIGAN.

BEFBIGEBATOR CONSTRUCTION.

Application led February 2, 19%.a Serial No. 690,143.

To all wlwm. z't may concern:

Be it known that I, LLOYD G. COPEMAN, a`-

citizen of the United States, residing at Flint, in the county of Genesee and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Refrigerator Constructions, of which the following is a specication. I

This invention relates to refrigerator construction, particularly that class of refrigerators in which the outer and theinner shells are formed of cast stone work suitably This invention pertains more in detail to the insulating medium between the inner and outer shells of a cast stone refrigerator.

In refrigerators of this character it has been customary to lill the space between the inner and outer shells with a suitable insulating material such as mineral wool or ground cork, but it has been found that this insulating medium willnot strengthen the refrigerator as a whole` If the refrigerator should fall or be struck at one of the corners, the shell of the refrigerator might crack and be seriously damaged. To overcome this likelihood of the refrigerator becoming damaged, I provide an insulating medium that is cast into the refrigerator, the form of insulating medium that I use being known as an insulating cement. This cement, although not positively uniting with the cast inner and outer shells, necessarily sticks pretty hard to the two shells and acts as a solid reinforcing filler to bind the outer and inner shells together.

In this invention the insulating cement is poured in all the spaces between the different compartments, and as it hardens it tends to hold the refrigerator together as a compact unit. In case of severe strains, the

whole refrigerator unit must give way before a severe strain can be brought on any one part. This insulating cement has no great tensile strength but when set is very hard and able to resist severe compression strains. i

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view through a cast stone refrigerator constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal .sectional detail of a modified forml of construction in which the insulating layer of cork board is omitted.

Fig. 4 1s a -similar detail showing lanother modified form of construction in which the outer shell is formed with a cast stone front.

Fig. 5 is a detail showing how this form of insulating medium could be applied to a cast refrigerator door.

a designates the outer shell of a cast stone refrigerator; b designates the inner shell and c designates they ice tank. The inner shell', shown in the drawings, is one in which the food chambers are cast in a shape ap proximating the letter L, thereby leaving a space in the upper .left hand corner for receiving the ice tank which is here shown formed of sheet metal. However, the inner shell could be cast so as to include the ice tank or the ice tank .could be separately formed of stone work.

The form of refrigerator showny in the drawings is provided with a wood front designated d. This form of construction is shown and claimed in my pending application Serial No. 686,882 and the details of construction need not be here described. However, the inner shell abuts against the wood front carried by the outer shell and is supported therefrom by suitable angle irons as shownl in m previous application. A back plate e is tted in the open end of the outer shell and when fastened to the innerl shell will securely hold the two shells in place and prevent relative movement beA tween the two.

The space between the cast inner shell and .the cast outer shell is filled with an insulatated f, while the same isl ing cement desi wet. Thisl pl`ast1c insulation may easlly be poured while wet and is very light and hard when it dries and becomes a good insulator preventing the conductivity of heat from the exterior of the refrigerator to the interior. I preferably form this mixture of 30% magnesium oxide, 15% cork dust, 5%-

ground cork, 5% silocel or kieselguhr (wet)4 and the balance'or 45% of magnesium chloride which has a specific gravity inthis particular mixture of 22 degrees Baume. I-Iowever, this mixture may be varied to some extent such as the replacing. of the cork dust, ground cork and silocel with glue and wood fiour, or glue and ground cork, or glue and sawdust, or other combinations which will be satisfactory for this surpose. The

idea, is, to pour cement into the s ace between the shells, which when dried comes very hard and strong, and is a good heat insulator.

In order to be doubly sure that the inner shell is thoroughly insulated from the outer shell, I line the inside of the outer shell with a %'cork board g. This corkboard simply 'lies against the inside of the outer shell, and

the spaces between the two shells and al' lowed to set. This cement when dried has the property of resisting compression strains and serves tov bind the outer and inner shells together.

However, this insulating cement is a good nonconductor of heat and it is possible to construct the refrigerator without the use of this corkboard as shown in Fig. 3. This corkboard is merely used to make doubly sure that 4the heat conductivity' is broken. In Fig. 4 I have shown a detail of a refrigerator construction in accordance with the disclosure in my pending application Ser. No. 686,883 which shows a cast stone refrigerator 'front with suitable insulating frames against which the inner shell abuts. This form of insulating the inner and outer shells is clearly adaptable to this form of,

construction as well as to the wooden front construction. Fig. 5 sho-ws a detail of a refrigerator door having a wooden panel with a cast stone back united thereto. This shows ho-w this form of insulating medium can be cast into the space between the back and front of theidoor for insulating the same. The use of such an insulating cement in door construction would probably be better adapted for use when the front and back of the door are both made of cast stone work.

This insulating cement is applicable to refrigerators having an outer vshell made entirely of wood, and an inner shell of cast stone or of sheet metal. This construction eliminates expensive bracing and supports for screwing the inner shell to the outer shell, besidesfserving to thoroughly insulate the two shells. I

What I claim is:

1. In a refrigerator construction, the combination of a moulded outer shell and a moulded inner shell secured together in spaced relation, and an insulating cement between said shells serving to bind them together and highly resistant tol compression strains to form an entire moulded structure@ 2. In a refrigerator construction, the combination of a cast stone outer shell and a cast stone inner shell secured together in spaced relation, and an insulating medium lying between said shells serving to bind poured between said shells and allowed to expand on setting to bind the two shells together.

4. In a refrigerator construction, the combination of an outer and an inner shell secured together in spaced relation, and an insulating -cement poured therebetween in a semi-fluid condition and including cork dust and a cementitious material, which when allowed to set will expand and bind the two shells together.

5. In a refrigerator construction, the combination of an outer shell and an inner shell secured together in spaced relation, and an insulating cement lying therebetween and including cork dust, ground cork and a cementitious material.

6. In a refrigerator construction, the combination of an outer shell and an inner shell secured together in spaced relation, and an insulating cement therebetween and including; cork dust, ground cork, kieselguhr and a cementitious material.

7. In a refrigerator construction, the combination of an outer shell and an inner shell secured together in spaced relation, and an insulating cement therebetween comprising cork dust, ground cork, kieselguhr, magnesium oxide and a cementitious material.

8. In a refrigerator construction, the combination of an outer shell and an inner shell secured together in spaced relation, an insulating cement therebetween comprising cork dust, ground cork, kieselguhr, magnesium oxide and magnesium chloride.

9. In a refrigerator construction, the combination of an outer moulded shell and an inner moulded shell secured together in spaced relation, and an insulating cement cast between said vshells whereupon the whole refrigerator is bound together and becomes a solid moulded structure highly resistant to compression strains.

10. In a refrigerator construction, the combination of an outer shell and an inner shell secured together in spaced relation, an insulating board in said space and an insulating medium between the insulating board and the shells and' highly resistant to compression strains. v

11. In a refrigerator construction, the combinationl of a cast stone outer shell and ,a cast stone inner shell secured together in spaced relation, anl insulating board in said space, and an insulating vmedium between the board and the shells and4 highly resistant to compression strains.

.v Y 512. In a refrigerator construction, .the

combination of an 'outer shell and an inner shell secured together in spaced relation, an insulating board in said space, and an insulating cement cast between the shells and highly resistant to compression strains, said cement becomin hardened and expanded when set to bind the two shells Vtogether.

13., In a refrigerator construction, the combination of an outer shell and an inner shell secured together in spaced relation,

14. In a refrigerator construction, the

combination of an outer shell and an inner y shell secured together in spaced relation, an

insulating board lining for the inside wall df the outer shell, and an insulating cement poured into the space between the board and the inner shell whereby when dried the said insulating cement is expanded and hardened for the purpose of binding the inner shell and outer shell together to reinforce the refrigerator.

, In testimony whereof I aflix. my signature.

LLOYD G. coPEMAN. 

